Charles Spencer claims Prince Harry was ‘allowed to spin out of control’ after Princess Diana’s death
Charles Spencer has described his concern for his young nephew in the hours after Diana’s funeral as he challenges Buckingham Palace over his memories of the royal family’s response to her death.
Prince Harry was “allowed to spin out of control” after the death of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, because of an apparent lack of care for the devastated 12-year-old, his uncle Charles Spencer has claimed.
Charles, 62, describes his concern for Harry, now 42, in his forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, as he recalls the aftermath of Diana’s funeral in September 1997.
The 9th Earl Spencer writes about travelling from London to his family estate at Althorp, Northamptonshire, where Diana was buried after the service at Westminster Abbey, and watching his young nephew attempt to deal with his mother’s death.
Charles writes: “My chief memory of that train journey is of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for Harry, as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning.
“He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him.
“But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control.”
Charles writes Harry could have benefited from “a more caring hand” while dealing with the loss of Diana, who was 36 when she died following a car crash in Paris.
Earlier that day, Harry and his brother Prince William, now 44, had walked behind their mother’s coffin as it travelled to Westminster Abbey.
They were joined by their father, King Charles, now 77, their grandfather Prince Philip, who was 99 when he died, and Charles.
The procession became one of the defining images of Diana’s funeral, watched by millions around the world.
Charles writes: “I could not get over how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked.
“Too small to be doing this, I thought, and wondered how on earth this heartbroken child could bear the ordeal of that moment, or how he could possibly be expected to deal with the agony that the day ahead would insist upon.”
Harry has previously spoken about the experience.
In 2017, he said he did not believe a child “should be asked to do that under any circumstances”.
The funeral also featured prominently in Harry’s 2023 memoir Spare, in which he wrote extensively about the lasting effect of Diana’s death and his childhood within the royal family.
Charles’ latest account comes during a public dispute with Buckingham Palace over other passages from Swan Song, which is being serialised by the Daily Mail before its publication on Tuesday (22.09.26).
He claims in the days after Diana’s death, the then Prince Charles became angry during a telephone conversation about whether William and Harry should walk in the funeral procession and allegedly told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
Buckingham Palace has challenged Charles’ account.
A palace spokesperson said: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Charles subsequently defended his recollection during an interview with the BBC.
He said: “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.”
Charles also questions the King’s place in Diana’s funeral procession following the collapse of their marriage.
He writes: “This ex-husband, from a marriage that had collapsed so bitterly four years before and finally ended in divorce a year earlier, surely had no place at his ex’s funeral.”
The publication of the extracts coincides with Harry making his first public appearances in Britain after relocating from California with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, 45, and their children.
Harry appeared at the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards in London this week and spoke at an event involving Save the Children and Imperial College London.
He said he was happy to be “back on British soil”.
Harry founded the Invictus Games for wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans.
His return comes more than six years after Harry and Meghan stepped back as working members of the royal family and moved to North America, a rupture he later documented in Spare and the couple discussed in their Netflix documentary series Harry and Meghan.
Charles, meanwhile, has continued to defend the account contained in his memoir despite the Palace’s intervention, telling the BBC: “I’m telling the truth.”
